


Secret Services

by Vampykitty_kun



Series: Without Expectations [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU - Comicverse, Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Big Brothers, Cold Weather, Crime Fighting, Crimes & Criminals, Detectives, Drug Dealing, Homelessness, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Underage, M/M, Murder, Prostitution, Rescue, Secrets, Stalking, Underage Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 20:37:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/626287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampykitty_kun/pseuds/Vampykitty_kun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim was legitimately shocked when he spotted Jason standing atop the hotel roof waving at him sporting his favorite Cheshire grin. Truth be told, he was floored. Not that he would ever admit it.</p><p>Tim didn't know that Bruce giving him the night off would lead to having an investigation of his own or that Jason would be the one he would have to partner up with to close the case.</p><p>Tim had learned three valuable things during this mission: He was in way over his head, Jason was even more impressive than he could have imagined, and Nightwing was in on the secret... more so than Tim knew.</p><p>***Will not make sense without parts 1-3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a 3 part edition instead of a one-shot.
> 
> Sorry for cliffhangers, but it was best to stop now than to have a 20+ page fic!

x-x-x-x-x-x-

It had been a slow night in Gotham on this particular evening, not that Tim was complaining.

Nothing but petty crimes and mindless patrol for hours. It had been slow enough that Batman had sent him home early. Or so, Batman had thought at least.

Tim had other plans however.

Tonight Tim was taking advantage of his early release, and was headed off straight towards Uptown, and into the Narrows to find Jason. He had missed seeing him the past four nights in a row. He had gone to the area at various times all four nights, but Jason had been nowhere to be seen. He had left the boy food all the same, which had at least been gone every time he had returned the next day. Tim had begun bringing food nightly as of a week and a half ago, but had not spoken to Jason face to face since that very same night in the hotel. The older teen had seemingly been recovering nicely however, if of course he was not faking it, extremely well.

After that awkward night, he had been unable to risk another meet up with the older teen. He had only just barely gotten home, out of costume, and showered before Bruce had come stomping into his house, demanding why he had not answered the house phone the past few hours (he had been wanting his opinion on a case apparently). He had played it off like he had simply just slept that deeply, that he must have really needed it, but he could tell that the man had not been convinced in the slightest. Thankfully, Bruce had let things be and had questioned him no further, and had not seemed out of sorts after the incident at all.

Tim had been watching.

So now that he was free much earlier in the night than he had been in ages, he was hoping he would be able to catch Jason before he left the area for the night, and be able to see how he had hopefully improved over the last few days. He also wanted to be sure that it was really Jason that had been grabbing the food as of late as without actually seeing Jason take it, it could have really been anyone.

Tim had admittedly not been paying very much attention as he had traveled towards his destination, hopping along rooftops, and shooting off his grapple when gaps were too wide. So he was legitimately shocked when upon landing on the rooftop across the street from their 'spot' he spotted Jason standing atop the hotel roof waving at him, sporting his favorite Cheshire grin, while wrapped up tight in his jacket.

Truth be told, he was floored.

Not that he would _ever_ admit it.

Tim shot his grapple line over to the hotel as soon as he recovered from his initial shock, and landed just a few feet away from the older teen, who approached him immediately.

Jason slung an arm around Tim's shoulders, giving his arm a slight squeeze before grabbing the take out bag from his hand and dropping down in front of him to chow down ravenously. Tim watched him plow through the meal faster than he had seen the teen ever eat, before finally speaking his mind.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, kneeling down to join Jason on the ground. "I mean… I haven't seen you in days, and you've never once sought me out yourself? Is someone after you?" He questioned, reaching up to thumb at the nearly healed head wound Jason has received the week before.

Jason swallowed his last bite quickly, and shook his head, batting Tim's hand away.

"No, not me, at least… I don't think so. Couldn't be sure. Never can be sure…" He muttered, stretching out his legs. "But I do have a problem, and I seriously hate to ask for help, 'cause… well, you do enough really-"

"What is it?" Tim interrupted, placing a hand on the other boy's shin. "Seriously, I don't mind, if it is within reason of course."

Jason stared at him a long, silent moment, before giving a shaky sigh and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"Got a light? It's a bit of a story, and my nerves are shot." He chuckled darkly, placing one of the sticks between his lips.

Tim regarded him carefully, and gave a small sigh, noting just how twitchy Jason seemed to be tonight. Reluctantly, he pulled a matchbook from within his belt and passed it to the teen.

"Thanks…"

Tim watched as he lit the cigarette and took a long drag before releasing a puff of smoke and curling his hands into his pockets.

Tim looked him over anxiously during the brief pause, trying to be sure that under all Jason's clothing he was no worse for wear than he had been last he had seen him. He sighed as Jason stiffened at his touch, and pulled away from the boy.

"Jason, if you don't want-"

"No! I do, it's just… not sure where to start, that's all." He sighed. "And I'm a bit jumpy at the moment, don't take it to heart, 'kay?"

Tim nodded and gave Jason a small reassuring smile.

"Just talk. I will keep track so don't worry about that. I'll even record it so I can rearrange the information later if need be." Tim grinned, gesturing for him to carry on as he pulled out a small device.

Jason eyed it wearily before giving a hesitant nod.

"Yeah… yeah, okay. So look, I'm no snitch, that shit'll get you killed out here. But, I mean… fuck!" Jason let out a frustrated growl, and tossed himself backwards to lay flat on his back, running his hands through his hair gripping at it tightly. "People are dying. And, it's not like it ain't common in this part of town, because on any given night you can probably find some stiff lying around somewhere if you look hard enough. Survival of the fittest… but these are good people. They may not be classy, they may not have their morality intact, but they're genuinely just trying to keep themselves, sometimes others alive. A bunch ain't clean, but a lot of them are, and you can _tell_ who is and isn't handling themselves well."

Tim stiffened, and nodded slowly.

"You're speaking of the- working girls? Right?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jason sighed, jabbing the butt of the first cigarette out on the rooftop before lighting up a second stick. "the girls. See… I don't work for anyone. I stay away from pimps and bookies because even though that's the easy route, the sure way to know that there will always be something to do on any given night, they're pieces of shit. Abusive sonuvabitches that treat their _employees_ like slaves, steal most of their hard earned cash, and manipulate everything so that it's in their favor. Most people can't help themselves though, ya know? There's the slightest bit of safety when you've got a name backing you, and some of these girls are seriously terrified of everything. They're willing to have some bastard push them around and bark orders at them, telling them who to go with, and what to do with them, just to have the illusion of that protection."

"Peace of mind?" Tim murmured.

"Exactly." Jason nodded, taking another drag. "I might not work _with_ the girls, but I do work _around_ them, and it doesn't stop me from making conversation with them. If they stick around long enough, and keep their heads on straight, it's easy to make friends. To be honest really, they're the only people I really talk to these days, other than you of course."

"I see. So… the girls are dying?"

"Yeah, they are. I mean, yeah, it happens all the time. It's not the safest thing to do with your nights, especially if you're not the one calling the shots, but it's gotten ridiculous. In the past week alone it's been nine girls. NINE. In a typical bad month, three at the max. But nine in one week is some freaky shit."

"And the police are not looking into it?" Tim frowned.

"Fuck no. Brushed it off like it was nothing. A few nights ago I had the pleasure of having to speak to them myself. Bullock, the bastard, of all people. Said there was nothin' strange at all about some 'hookers' biting the big one, and that he wasn't going to put men out there to investigate something that wasn't there when they could be doing more important things. Such as, hunting down Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Batty, which will totally never happen. May not know the guy as well as you do, but his track record speaks for itself, 'cept when it comes to tires, in which case I'm just epic like that. So that ass is wasting his time when it's needed elsewhere."

"…what?" Tim quirked an eyebrow, corner of his mouth twitching in slight amusement.

"Story for another time Robin, story for another time. Anyway, Bullock needs a boot shoved up his ass. He knows it ain't normal just as well as I do, he just don't give a flying fuck. I mean, I guess I kinda get it, seriously. Cops have got worse things to deal with in this crazy city then a few girls dead in alleys, and as much as I hate to admit it, it's hard for any of the rest of us to really give a shit when you've got yourself to worry about. Until it gets personal, of course, and hits home. I brushed it off until I couldn't, and then I got involved, which as I said, didn't do a damned thing."

"Someone you were close to this time." Tim responded, nodding knowingly with a sigh.

"Yeah. It was. Name was Trina. Kind lady, funny, and pretty young. Had a ten year old son she was trying to put though school. Babysat him a handful of times when he was younger in exchange for dinner. She'd done a damned good job up 'til now." Jason snorted, shaking his head sadly.

"Where is he now?"

"Now, see, that's why I've been so damned busy the last few days. Been tired as hell, haven't slept a wink, and have been running all over town. Was starving 'til you came around. I had been giving the kid all of my meals." He winced as a frown spread across the younger teen's face. " I'm sure you understand. Anyway, Trina had a sister in Metropolis that she'd had a falling out with some twelve years back when she'd run off to the city and left her behind. I got an _acquaintance_ of mine to look the lady up. I had to try. Nothing worse than being put through the system in a city like Gotham. Despite the issues they'd had she was genuinely crushed to find out what had happened, and even more shocked to find out she'd had a nephew this whole time. Agreed to take the kid and deal with the mess of paperwork. It helped that Trina had his birth certificate and crap in one of her drawers. Managed to get up enough cash over the last few days for the bus trip out there. Fed him, put the kid on in his bus seat, wished him good luck, and sent him on his way this morning. Called the lady up a while ago to make sure he got there alright and that they met up just fine. With any luck he's off to a decent home and won't have nearly as rough of a life as he would have had back out here." He grinned.

"I see. That was… incredible of you, to do that for him, even though it cost you money, food, and sleep to do so." Tim smiled, curling the cape tight around his shoulders as a particularly chilly wind brushed past.

"No one else was gonna. Better than some asshole getting a hold of him, or him being sent off to some home."

"Mmm." Tim nodded. "So what now?"

"See, now that's where I need your help. No one's gonna look into it, and if no one's looking into it, it's not going to stop. More girls are going to be turning up dead in crazy amounts, probably some of the guys too. Fortunately, unlike Bullock and the rest of Gotham's finest, I know you'll listen to what I have to say. I know you'll believe me. At least… I hope you will."

"Of course I will." Tim smiled weakly. "I have no reason not to. Batman and I are different from the police. We take cases all the time that no one will touch, or those that they have no idea how to handle. If anyone can bring those girls to justice, it's us."

Jason beamed, and twirled his cigarette in his fingers.

"Gotcha, good to know. Alright, so, there's this guy down on Montague and 20th. His name's Marcel Degan, he runs the shots, runs the girls." Jason explained. "He's always been a piece of shit, but lately he's been really fuckin' riled up. Word is he's taken on dealing something pretty fucked up, and has been on edge about it, possibly dabbling in it himself, the idiot. He's been really bad with the girls. They're piling on the makeup to cover up the major bruises and cuts they've been getting when he's in a particularly shitty mood. They're starting shifts so shaken up that they're vibrating like they're using, hell, some of the cleanest ones even started using recently because they can't take the abuse. Just last week he came down the street and beat the shit outta one girl, Mary, because one of her Johns took her out for a big fancy dinner on top of paying her. Told her she'd get fat, and no one would touch her, and that he should have just given her the extra hundred. Which is a load of bull considering most of us living out here are underweight and could stand to gain fifteen pounds or so. Kicked her in the gut so hard she spewed that fancy dinner right up. Made her wipe it off his shoes too. Was fucking crazy. Over almost as quickly as it started. One of the other girls rushed over, grabbed her, and fixed her up before they both went back on shift. And that's not the first time that something like that has happened recently, nor the latest shit. If you ask me, he's been going crazy on everyone, and he's just losing it and offing them. I mean, I don't have proof obviously, but with what the girls have been saying, and what I've seen myself, he looks like the prime suspect."

Tim furrowed his brow as he thought of possible ways of going about an investigation.

"Did Trina have problems with him?" He asked, watching Jason shift to press on his collar and snuggle deeper into the jacket, with a small smile.

"All the damn time lately. Like I said, they all have. He kept upping the percentage of his intake. She couldn't really swing it with two mouths to feed, rent, bills, and the kid's schooling. She had to work extra-long shifts just to cover what she was making comfortably just six months ago. She was tired as hell. These girls don't have the additional skills I do to go find a high paying one-night gig to pick up slack if need be. They'd get themselves killed trying."

"And it's been like this for everyone you said?" Tim frowned.

"Yeah, pretty much. I don't talk to everyone, but those that I do haven't had a damned good thing to say about the man as of late. Ever really, but more so now."

"Would they be willing to tell their ends of the story?" He asked hopefully.

Jason snorted.

"To you or the Bat let alone the cops? Not a chance in hell. Wouldn't tell me either if they knew it was for some investigation either. Like I said, being a snitch out here will get you killed. No one is going to talk about the deep stuff knowing it's being used."

"What if they _didn't_ know?" He suggested.

"What, like get them to talk, while I'm wearing a wire, like in some movie?" Jason tilted his head, grin reappearing for the first time since the conversation had started.

Tim snickered.

"Something like that. Except wires are too dangerous and easily found. We have better technology for that."

"Yeah, Bats and his fancy toys. Betcha he's got a zillion off-shore accounts funding this shindig." Jason nodded to himself, grin spreading to show more teeth.

"Maybe." Tim smirked.

Jason let loose a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair once more.

"Yes, I know… you can't say. Let me have my fun making theories, 'kay?" He laughed lightly, sitting back up cross-legged in front of Tim. "You need me to tell you where the bodies were and stuff? I mean, I didn't see most of them in person, but I hear things."

Tim shuddered and shook his head.

"It's horrible that you had to see _any_ Jason. But no, the GCPD will have the information in their files, even if they don't plan on investigating. I can pull the official documents from them and go from there. Also, we'll make Gordon aware of the full extent of the situation. He really is on our side mostly, unlike the other members of the department, and he will make sure that things are investigated more thoroughly from here on out. It won't really help with what is over and done with at this time, but if anything more comes up it will be forwarded to us without having to poke around for it."

"But you're going to go to the locations and have a look around for yourselves right?" The older teen confirmed.

"Yes, both myself and Batman will likely visit each crime scene. There is always something the police miss even on a case they are actually interested in, let alone those that they are not."

"When do you want me asking around?" Jason asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That will have to start tomorrow night. I will need to get the vocal chip ready for you, and that will not be happening any time tonight. The hard part of this will be doing things with your help without Batman actually knowing that I am having a civilian assist in the investigation. He will not be able to know that I received this tip from you, nor will he be given access to the vocal files you collect from the girls. I'll have to make handwritten hard copies of their stories and pass it off as though I actually got them to speak with me."

Jason scowled.

"Wouldn't like you associating with me eh? I get it, no big deal." He let out a snort, and fidgeted with the crumpled cigarette pack, contemplating whether or not to light up another.

"No, it's not that, at least not like _that_." Tim murmured. "Honest. It's just that he would not approve of me speaking to anyone on a regular basis while in costume. Our identities are everything. You are a security risk in his eyes. It would be different had we met while I was my civilian identity, but then, things wouldn't be like this. He…would not approve of my interaction with you, and he would demand that I cease and desist. He would make sure that I wasn't coming around here to see you again."

"So, he's paranoid of the world. Seems like something typical of a guy that runs around dressed as a flying rodent."

Tim sighed and shook his head with a slight chuckle.

"He's a great man. In and out of costume. Most people wouldn't think so I suppose. From an outside view he does seem a bit eccentric."

"Yeah, still going with the theory that he's loaded. Only rich people can be labeled 'eccentric' over insane" Jason laughed, watching a red hue spread across the younger boy's cheeks.

"Well, I will leave you with your theories." Tim chuckled lightly, ignoring the heat in his face. "I'll stop by your location early in the day tomorrow. That is, if you are actually here during the day?"

"Yup. People know where to find me if I stick to one location. I prefer my regulars over strangers."

Tim sighed.

"Very well. I can't give you a time estimate I'm afraid. My schedule is too unreliable. So I will just have to hope that I catch you. If not, I will be back around a bit later I suppose."

"Robin in the daytime? That might be a first." Jason laughed.

"Mmm."

"Not gonna tell me anything, are you?"

"Nope, not at all. You will simply just have to wait and see." Tim laughed, pulling himself to his feet, stopping a moment to stare down at the empty take out containers. "Jason?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Still hungry? Since my night off is seemingly shot to hell now, I ought to eat before I sit in front of a giant screen the next several hours." He grinned, holding his gloved hand out to the older teen.

Jason grinned, clasping onto the outstretched hand.

"I'm _always_ hungry, especially if you're buying, Bird-boy."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Tim made his back to the cave just as 7pm rolled around, much to Alfred's surprise. As Tim had expected, Bruce was nowhere in sight, likely still on patrol despite having sent Tim home early for the night.

"Master Tim, what on earth are you doing back at the cave this time of night? One would think you would be back at home deep asleep. Master Bruce told me earlier in the night he had let you go early." Alfred scolded lightly.

Tim sighed and shot the man a small smile as he dove into the large chair in front of the computer systems.

"Things never seem to go as one plans Alfred. Got wrapped up in a complicated case on the way home, something the police have been ignoring I'm afraid. Nine women dead within a seven day span. All working girls. While the occasional loss of life is typical in their line of profession, you know as well as I that something is amiss there."

"Indeed Sir. Such a shame." The man tsked, shaking his head.

"Mmm…" Tim sighed, nodding his head. "Evidently it's one of Bullock's cases, and he's writing it off as nothing. The girls are all spooked. I suspect that the man running them is responsible, but there is no real proof to be found. It will take some looking into."

"I am sure that Master Bruce would agree. Should I tell him you need his assistance Sir?"

Tim sighed and drummed his fingers against the dash in thought.

"No, it is unlikely that I will require his input on things tonight, but chances are I will need him during the next few days at some point. Although, it would probably be wise to at least let him know that I am here and what I am up to so he doesn't worry. Last thing I need is for him to show up at home again if I don't pick up the phone and not find me there this time. He would pitch a fit."

"That he would." Alfred chuckled, turning towards the stairs. "Would you perhaps like some tea? I can go make some after I make the call to Master Bruce."

"That would be great Alfred. I have a feeling it is going to be a long night."


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fic art / character designs at the end. Enjoy!

When Tim had assumed that he was going to be in for a long night, that was an understatement. The Gotham City Police Department was disorganized at best, and the files on the nine dead women were far from categorized with one another.

Researching Marcel Degan was the easier task at hand. The man had a rap sheet a mile high from everything under the sun besides murder. He was European in origin, fifty-three years old, been in Gotham for forty-seven years of that, and had been in prison on three separate occasions over the span of his lifetime. Convicted of armed robbery at the age of twenty, Marcel served a ten year sentence, and had been released shortly after his thirty-first birthday. At the age of thirty-five, he was thrown back in prison on an aggravated assault charge, serving three years, and was released at the age of thirty eight years old. The last incarceration followed only two year later when Degan was charged with third degree possession of stolen property, but only served eighteen months in prison before he was released at the age of forty-two. Throw in various misdemeanors throughout the board and he had had plenty of criminal activity over the years. He had been 'clean' the thirteen years since.

Basically, he had been careful.

Murdering several women was a step up from previous charges, but if the drug rumors were true, it was not improbable to make the jump up from aggravated assault.

On several instances, three other men stood out in Degan's files. Hal Mudget (age forty-six) Alvaro Lighthall (age fifty), and Geoffrey Rolin (age fifty-five), of who Tim pulled the files of as well. In several instances not involving Degan, especially in recent years, there were plenty of crossovers.

Tim was halfway through locating the nine case files for the murdered women when Batman returned from patrol. Bruce greeted Alfred upon exiting the car before heading off to shower. Fifteen minutes later he joined Tim at his work station.

"So, Alfred tells me that you picked yourself up a case on the way home. Series of murders? Bullock slacking?" He sighed, placing a hand on the back of Tim's chair, looking over the data he had managed to pull thus far.

"Mmm… yes, slacking indeed. The murders were not even grouped together despite injury patterns being consistent with one another and each and every one of the crime scenes being within an eight block radius of one another. Cause of death on the girls I have already pulled the files of was inevitably asphyxiation, but every one of them suffered multiple points of blunt force trauma, lacerations, and various broken bones, particularly concaved ribs and scaphoid fractures."

"Assaulted, wrists twisted, thrown down, kneeled upon, then choked."

"So it would seem."

"Sexual assault?"

"Given their profession, it would be very hard to prove that any traces of semen or vaginal trauma were relevant to the encounter causing their deaths. In most of the cases, traces of DNA found on the victims matched multiple different sources, male and female. All victims were found fully clothed, although with minimal coverage, but motive was unlikely to be sexual in nature."

Bruce skimmed over things briefly before returning his attention to the team.

"How did you come across this case? None of these murderers occurred tonight, and I'm doubting Bullock offered it up."

"No, he's more likely to attempt to book me then ask for help." Tim chuckled. "I was actually hailed down. By one of the girls. She had given a statement to Bullock, trying to get him to look into things further but he laughed it off. Caught a glimpse of me on my way back home and called me out. Gave me what info she had and begged me to look into it said the girls were all terrified that they would be next. I know we don't normally get pulled into cases like this, but clearly this is only going to keep up if something is not done. Nine deaths in a single month is a tad bit extreme, even by Gotham standards." Tim half lied, telling Bruce as much as he could.

"Yes… yes it is."

"And regardless of what Bullock thinks, they're people too. They deserve justice and safety just like anyone else."

Bruce smiled warmly and nodded throwing a proud look over his shoulder at Alfred.

"That they do Tim. That is precisely what we are here for. To do what the GCPD cannot or will not do." He chuckled, ruffling the teen's hair. "Just do me a favor and don't get in over your head. Keep your coms open whenever possible, check in periodically, and please, call back up if needed."

Tim's eyes widened, and a large grin spread across his face.

"You're going to let me do this? On my own? Seriously?" he laughed in disbelief.

Bruce crossed his arms and sighed, a pleased expression on his face.

"Tim, you have been working with us for the past four years. I trust your judgment. Your mind is a powerful thing, and you are very capable of holding your own in a fight. The past year you have spent half the night patrolling with me, and Dick on occasion, and the second half of each night patrolling your own route. I think it's time I gave you a shot at taking on your own case, and what would be more perfect than letting you take charge on the first case someone approached _you_ with? It will be great to see what you can do when given free reign."

Tim was silent for a long moment before releasing a deep breath and smiling happily.

"Thanks Bruce."

"And you need not worry about patrolling with me. It would be best to let you keep your focus on the task at hand rather than attempting to force you to put it in the back of your head while roaming rooftops with me. If I need assistance, I'll have Dick come in and sub." Bruce added, giving him a pat on the back before turning and heading towards the stairs to retire for the night, Alfred following behind him.

With that turn of events, Tim felt incredibly relieved. Keeping certain aspects of the investigation from Bruce would all the more easy without him on the team as well. He gave a content sigh and continued skimming through the police files, looking for the remaining documents he had yet to locate. Eventually, he was able to track down the files on all nine women. He copied everything to an external drive and began picking through the data, noting the location of each crime and flagging them on a digital map of the area for future use.

Finally able to compare all nine case files at once rather than just the first few he was definitely able to conclude that every single woman had the exact same types of trauma and cause of death. No way the deaths were simply just coincidences at all.

Tim had a feeling that Gordon was going to have few choice words with Bullock by the end of this.

The autopsy photos were horrendous. Bruises mottling flesh in patches down the bodies, several contusions up and down their arms, legs, and heads. Painful, a frightening attack for sure, ending with strangulation. They had never had a chance. No files indicated that under the nail scrapings were ever taken, so he was going to leave Bruce a note telling him to pass that on to Gordon, and have him keep the bodies on site until such things were done.

Inevitably, Batman would have to handle things with Gordon due to their arrangements.

Tim paused at Trina's file, slumping into the large chair with a heavy sigh. She was a pretty woman before her untimely demise. Olive skin, dark hair, hazel eyes. No one had even thought to look for her son. Such a broken system Gotham had…

Stretching in the chair, Tim groaned and chanced a look at the clock. It would be seven in the morning soon, meaning he would need to get home and in bed if he hoped to have the slightest bit of sleep before things got chaotic later in the day.

He finished exporting the files, and disconnected his equipment, slipping it into his bag. He pulled himself from the leather chair and slipped into the locker room to change into his civvies. With daylight beginning to stretch its way throughout Gotham, returning home as Robin was likely to get himself caught.

He returned to his work area afterwards to grab his bag, slinging it over his shoulder, before he made his way to the storage area. He went through a few drawers and cabinets, grabbing odds and ends and stuffing them into his bag for safe keeping on the journey home.

Tim left the cave through the manor stairwell entrance, exiting the premises through the front door. He pulled the kickstand up on his bike he had left near the front door earlier in the day and walked it to the gates, typing in the key-code for them to open. He pushed through the opening and waited for the gates to clatter shut behind him before mounting the bike and heading towards home.

It was just after seven when he slipped through his bedroom door, locking it behind him. Tim got to work immediately, emptying his bag of its contents onto his desk, and spent the next two hours modifying, programing, and installing his bat-bug, ensuring that it was functioning properly, and correctly synced to his laptop. It was only after he was finished and fully satisfied with the results that he allowed fatigue to take him, and he crawled into bed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was noon when Tim let out a pained whine, the alarm blaring relentlessly just inches from his head. He slid his hand out from underneath the cocoon of blankets and flipped the switch, groaning as he forced himself to leave the comfort of the bed.

He had only allowed himself three short hours of sleep, and he felt just as drained as he should with only that. He made his way down to the kitchen slowly, gripping the banister as he shuffled down the steps half dazed. He robotically went about making his coffee before returning upstairs to shower. By the time he would be done, the coffee would be made and ready for consumption.

He turned the showerhead on full blast, adjusting it for the perfect heat, before he stripped out of the clothes he had climbed into bed with and slid in under the pelting stream. He took his time, letting the hot water sooth his sore muscles and inch him out of his daze.

With hair clean and body thoroughly scrubbed free of last night's dirt, he slipped out of the shower, wrapping a towel tightly around his waist, and made his way to his room. He hummed to himself quietly as he rummaged through his closet, laying clothes out on his bed. In the end, he settled on a grey turtleneck, and a pair of black slacks. He blew dry his hair and stared at his reflection in the mirror briefly before rubbing gel across his hands and through his hair, successfully getting his bangs out of his face and making himself look more tidy and presentable.

To be truthful, the only time he really ever bothered with primping himself was when he was forced to go to some event with his parents, or in recent years Bruce, but he was playing a part today, one that would require a different sort of look than usual.

He repacked his bag from earlier, with the addition of the laptop, and made his way down the stairs. He drank his coffee slowly, letting the caffeine take effect, and munched on some toast as he flipped through the morning paper. After he had a cup through his system he sighed, and grabbing his bag, he made his way out to the garage.

Tim rarely used the Redbird outside of mission purposes, as it attracted attention he never really wanted, but it was a useful form of transportation. The vehicle could go from fancy sports car to Robin-mobile in seconds (something he was sure Bruce had gotten the idea for from Dick watching Transformers when younger) which made it all together useful for cases such as this. He placed his equipment in the front seat, then made his way around the vehicle to the 'trunk', and wrenched it open. He pulled a black case out of the very back and popped it open, flipping through sets of license plates Alfred had made up for him in case of such occasions. He chose a pair from out of state, and took the time to swap out his official Gotham plates for them. When the car transformed, the plate settings would flip, showing the Redbird plates automatically regardless of what state plates he had on typically.

He wiped his hands clean on a nearby towel, and slid into the car, closing the door behind him. He reached into the back, retrieving his pea coat, and pulled it on over the turtle neck, buttoning it up. He set the laptop in back, and tucked his bag onto the floor of the passenger's seat, before he opened the garage door and started the car. The Redbird started up with a purr and he pulled out of the building swiftly, heading down the drive. As he pulled away, he closed the garage, and reached up to the visor, pulling a pair of slim sunglasses from beneath it, slipping them on as he drove.

As he pulled away from the Drake property he sighed, staring lazily down the empty property.

First thing was first… more coffee.

And perhaps food for both of them.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Robin and he had eaten a hefty dinner, Jason had decided to call it a night, and had made his way back to the room he called home. He figured that whatever the Boy Wonder had planned for the following day would take a clear mind and well rested body, so sleep was the best bit of preparation he could follow through with.

He had climbed up the gapped and rusty fire escape, crawling through the opening in the boarded up window like every other night, before making his way down the creaky hall to his makeshift dwelling.

No electricity, no gas, and no heat to make it really habitable at night, nothing but the ragged mattress in the corner of the room and the half dozen moth eaten comforters he had acquired one by one over the years to keep him warm as the Gotham November came to a close. Jason could only be thankful that it hadn't yet begun to snow, and that the coat Robin had given him was plenty warm while he spent hours lurking out on the street. Still, the snow would be a bitch to live through once it decided to fall.

He had stripped down to his boxers, balling up the discarded clothes in his arms as he made his way to the bathroom. He turned the tub on full blast, and dumped the day's clothes under the freezing water. He scrubbed himself with the icy water and soap, leaning over the tub. He didn't dare soak himself anymore, not with the weather gradually growing colder, but at the same time he had to stay clean. So he suffered through the damp hair, and poured dish soap onto the sopping wet clothes, rubbing it in and squeezing repeatedly to get whatever grime acquired over the twenty-four hours to lift from the threads. His hands were numb from being submerged in the unheated water, but he rinsed everything until the water ran clear before wringing as much water out of the garments as possible and heading back to the main room. He had draped the damp clothes over the old dysfunctional radiator, and shuffled over to his bed, dropping down onto the mattress with a huff, cocooning himself in the covers. The clothes would dry by the following night, a bit stiff, but still clean.

When Jason had awoken in the morning, he reluctantly pulled himself out from underneath the warm covers, and crawled to the pile of mostly clean clothes he had in the opposite corner of the room. He yawned, stretching as he stood, pulling a pair of jeans up and over his long legs. He grabbed the first shirt he spotted, and slung it over his head, then sat back down on the mattress to pull socks and shoes on.

He was looking forward to helping, as much as he hated to admit it. He was more than aware that if someone caught him feeding Robin information it would put a target across his back, yet at the same time, he couldn't really bring himself to care. He would be saving people he saw on the streets every day, and he'd be having a damned good time doing it as the Bird could be highly entertaining. And of course, it would be a hell of a lot better of a way to go than starving or freezing to death. Or, well, at least _he_ thought so.

He had thrown his coat on, retracing the steps he had made the night before, slipping through the boarded up window and down the rickety fire escape. He stopped at a McDonald's as he walked down the street, buying a small cup of coffee with the loose change floated around his pockets. The warmth the cup offered his hands was nearly as useful as the caffeine boost it provided.

He leaned up against the brick wall of the building, watching the daytime buzz that the corner of Fare and Lok was at this hour. In the daylight, there was a very different kind of crowd, even in this seedy part of Gotham. Even here, from dawn until noon, the sidewalks were crowded with business folk making their way to whatever establishment gave them their paychecks.

For the most part, he and the girls were ignored as people stalked past staring straight ahead or reading their newspapers, so the girls mingled among themselves as he watched on. Eventually, he made his way over to them, smiling warmly as he joined in on their conversations.

Hours passed slowly, but it was nothing he wasn't used to. Daytime rarely brought a job along, but with nothing else to do besides sit in his cold room, mindless chit chat was better than nothing at all.

It was just past noon when the sidewalk traffic died down. One of the girls got lucky, and was flagged down. She gave a quick goodbye before she drove off with the man, leaving the group behind.

Sometime later, Jason pulled away from the conversation briefly, leaning back against the wall with his eyes shut as he smoked a cigarette. The wind blew chilly air past them, and he shivered slightly, reaching up to grasp the edge of his collar to give himself a burst of heat. He slumped slightly at the feeling and crossed his arms, shielding his hands. The cigarette was nearly at its end when another vehicle pulled down the street and paused at the curb. Veronica, one of the blondes, made her way over without hesitation. He watched her boredly as she leaned into the window, nearly bouncing to keep warm. To his surprise, she pulled away and looked over her shoulder, locking eyes with him.

"Jay-Jay!" She called out, waving him over as she stepped away from the vehicle.

He sighed, tossing the remains of the butt to the ground, stomping it out as he pushed off the wall and headed on over to chat it up with the man.

At the same time, an expensive bright red sports car rolled in and parked directly across the street. One of the girls immediately made her way on over, grinning as the window rolled down to reveal a young raven haired driver smiling up at her.

"What can I do for you hun?" She purred, draping herself in the window-way. "Lookin' for some company handsome?"

Tim fought his embarrassment, managing to contain himself as he addressed her.

"Actually, my tastes are somewhat… different." He stated bluntly, faint flush spreading across his cheeks.

The girl pouted, genuinely looking crushed as she turned towards the other vehicle and shouted.

"Jay?" She asked, grabbing the older teen's attention.

He looked up over the hood of the car at her, raising a questioning eyebrow as he nodded down at the vehicle he was already addressing, letting her know he was already busy.

That is, until he saw the car _she_ was standing in front of.

The girl gave an all knowing smirk, side stepping so he could see the driver, then was the one to cast _him_ an odd glance as the teen did a double-take before breaking out into a wide grin.

"Sorry man, gotta fly!" He laughed, abandoning the first car, earning a string of curses from the occupant as he strutted over to the Redbird, and the man pulled away tearing down the street in a huff.

The girl that had initially approached the Redbird met him halfway, wagging her brows as she mouthed 'nice' at him, and swatted him on the rear.

Jason was highly amused when he approached the window, cocking a hip before he draped himself within it grinning widely as he chuckled, looking him over.

"Dude… I'm not even gonna ask. But this is sweet." He groaned, eyes flickering across the interior, before falling back upon him. "Can I drive?"

Tim snorted, shaking his head.

"Most definitely not." He laughed.

"Damn. Had to try."

"Just get in the car."

"Gladly." He smirked, pulling away, before he slid over the hood and popped open the passenger side door.

He climbed in, shutting the door behind him, watching as the group of girls waved to him from their position across the street. He chuckled to himself as Tim started the car up with a loud rumble, and pulled away down the street.

For the first few blocks, Jason could only stare at Tim, taking in his attire and overall look as the younger teen drove steadily through the neighborhood, earning stares from the passerby's.

"So… what's your name today?" He asked, smirking as he propped his head up on a hand, leaning against the seat.

Tim frowned, never taking his eyes off the road as he pressed his lips into a tight line.

"What does it matter when what I say will be a lie?" He asked bluntly.

Jason flinched and let out a nervous laugh before running a hand through his mussed hair.

"Eek, sorry." He squeaked, holding hands up in defense.

Tim only slumped, and stopped at the stoplight, turning to him.

"No, I'm the one who is sorry. I don't mean to snap. It's just… I don't WANT to lie to you. So I would rather not say anything at all. Stick to your pet names, or Robin. They can go either way." He murmured, placing his focus back on the road as the light turned

Jayson grinned, content with that response.

The two drove silently for a while, and Jason watched the streets roll by with disinterest. Clearly the teen was not a talker as he was driving. Safety first, he supposed.

Eventually, Tim pulled off the main road, and drove down a secluded area behind an abandoned office building. He parked the car, flipping a switch on the dash, causing the windows to tint black, allowing them privacy.

Tim sighed, seemingly in relief and turned to him, a shaky smile planted on his face.

"Alright, what now?" The older of the two asked, gazing out the windows at their surroundings.

"Well, firstly…" Tim started, pulling a lever between the seats, causing them to move backwards flesh against the back seats.

It gave them plenty of space upfront to move around, and Tim gathered his bag from next to Jason's feet, and the laptop bag from behind, placing them in front of him.

"This is going to be…awkward." He responded bluntly, giving Jason an odd look.

The older teen only rose an eyebrow at him and cocked his head.

"Define awkward, because I'm pretty sure your definition of awkward is a hell of a lot more vanilla than mine." He chuckled, smirking at the boy.

"We'll see…" Tim muttered, frowning as he moved forward, reaching for the dash.

He pressed a button, causing a thin shelf to pop forward, just wide enough to place his laptop on. He then removed the computer from its case and set it there, booting it up, and opening a handful of programs. Jason watched him curiously as he did so, leaning over slightly to get a better look, relieved when Tim did not move to shield it from him.

"Look… what you are doing is extremely risky. You said so yourself last night. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt again, or worse. You already knew that I was going to bug you, and that my gear would be less conspicuous." He started, rambling on.

"Get to the point." Jason laughed, watching as Tim began to slowly but surely become unnerved.

Tim sighed, and reluctantly opened the bag, pulling out a steel case. He placed it in his lap and popped the latches, turning it as he opened it so Jason could see its contents.

The older teen paled, wincing as he looked at Tim questioningly as he glanced down at the metal instruments within surrounded by sterile packs and a small box.

"So, you're gonna shoot something under my skin?" He asked reluctantly, eyeing the largest piece in the center of the case.

"No, I- that's what your mind goes to?" He gasped, genuinely looking shocked at his assumption.

Jason couldn't help but snicker.

"That looks pretty gun-like, and I've seen a hell of a lot of Bond flicks." He smirked, nodding at the piece.

Tim laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, you're wrong. I'm not planning on being that invasive." He sighed, pulling out the small box sitting next to the 'gun', popping the lid open. "This, is your transmitter." He stated, holding the box out to him.

Jason tilted his head, nodding slightly as he stared down at the small smooth chunk of metal.

"I'm not following…"

Tim sighed.

"Then listen. Not only will it give a direct vocal feed to this laptop, but it also dual functions as a tracking device. Meaning, if you get put in a position we were not anticipating, I will be able to find you, and get you the hell out of there. It IS invasive, as this, is an earring." He explained. "It will require me to put a hole through your ear, your flesh, something I feel highly uncomfortable about doing, but no matter what the situation is, it has the highest chance of staying on your person at all times. Clothes can be removed, as can shoes, and people are more likely to remove a necklace, ring, or bracelet for value purposes than a single earing without a match. The earring is also rather plain so as to not attract attention." He finished, staring at him expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

Jason stared at him silently for an agonizingly long moment before letting out a boom of a laugh.

Tim jumped in his seat at the sudden outburst, and stared at the teen with wide eye, certainly not having expected that.

"Guess this will help with your stalker fantasies, eh Baby-bird?"

At this Tim flushed a deep scarlet and gaped at him sputtering.

"It's not-this isn't…I, I mean…"

Jason bit his lip and laughed, shaking his head at the boy.

"Kidding Robin, kidding." He sighed, patting the teen on the thigh. "You gotta learn when I'm joking, or being sarcastic and such. Not that I don't enjoy seeing you get all flustered of course." He sniggered, watching him become even redder, if that were possible.

Tim let out a whine, and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

"By the end of this I'm going to have an ulcer…" he muttered, retrieving the gun from within the case.

Jason watched as he pieced it together, wiping the entirety of it with sterile disinfectant wipes, then attached the earing piece with a custom clamp.

Tim held it up for him to see, pointing to the actual earring within the clamp.

"The post is platinum coated to reduce the chances of an allergic reaction. The closure is a screw back to avoid accidently losing it. The earring itself is silver. Hollow on the inside, other than my tech. Not overly weighted, but it may take some getting used to at first, especially with the piercing being fresh. You will have to disinfect multiple times a day, and be sure to turn it every once and a while to avoid the skin attempting to bond with the metal at it tries to heal." He explained.

"We're doing this here?"

"Yes… unfortunately, I do not have a personal safe house that I can compromise for this case. I would rather _not_ do this in the confines of my vehicle, but at present, this is the safest location for us, and likely the most sterile." He sighed. "Why, would you rather me figure something else out? Because, I CAN-"

"Nah, this is fine." Jason chuckled, holding up a hand. "You just didn't seem like the type that would be comfortable with doing anything that could potentially get your pretty little sport coupé dirty. Speaking of which, how old are you? You even old enough to drive, you older than you look?" He asked, grinning.

Tim huffed, glaring halfheartedly at the teen.

"That is neither here nor there, but I am… younger than you." He answered bluntly. "And trust me when I say that this car has seen her fair share of gore. We have military grade disinfectant back at base, so it's never really a problem. Now, I need you to come closer and sit on the floor. I don't want you to jerk the wrong way and hurt yourself." He said, pointing to the empty space of floor in front of him.

Jason gave a lewd grin, and shuffled down to the floor, scooting forward on his knees. He propped his head up with hand, elbow resting on Tim's thigh.

"Ready when you are Boy Wonder." He drawled, smirking up at him.

Tim swallowed heavily, wishing he wasn't as red in the face as he knew he was, before he tore open the small square packaging of the sterile wipe (of which upon seeing said packaging Jason bit his bottom lip and shook to keep from laughing his ass off) and then wiped at the teen's ear, careful to cover every bit of the lobe.

"Please stop laughing… you are making this more awkward than it is, and I need you to not be shaking." He muttered, holding back a small smile he was sure Jason noticed anyway.

It did however get the job done, and Jason stilled. Tim carefully marked his target with the ink pen seated within the box, and he gently grabbed Jason's jaw with one hand to steady him. He lifted the gun, steadying it carefully as he lined the post up with the marking he had made.

He looked down at Jason, locking eyes with him. Jason gave a small nervous grin and gripped Tim's thighs, clinging tightly.

With a heavy sigh, Tim braced himself, tightening his grip on Jason's jaw, and pulled the trigger. The gun went off with a snap, and Jason's nails dug into his thighs as the teen hissed.

"You okay?" Tim asked, slowly pulling the gun away and setting it back into the case, before screwing the back onto the post.

Jason gave a shaky laugh, sitting up slightly.

"Yup. Just pulsing a bit."

Tim winced, and very carefully rubbed another sterile pad against the new piercing.

"Again, I'm sorry… I really am. At least when this is all over and done with, you can take it out and it will heal up quickly. There shouldn't even be a mark since it will not have been in long."

"Psh, no way."

At this, Tim froze.

"..huh? But-"

"Nuh uh. I like _all_ my gifts, even when they aren't intended to be one." He chuckled, titling his head at the teen. " 'sides, I think I like the idea of having something a part of me that is all you, _Robin_. Whenever I look in the mirror I'm gonna think about that. You've left your mark on me, and it's here to stay, whether you wanted that or not." Jason said with finality, face splitting out in his best Cheshire grin.

Tim could only stare at the teen blinking, an awkward silence stretching on even as Jason scooted backwards and hopped back into his seat. The older teen met his gaze, and flushing once more he turned is head away to stare out the window, all the while Jason never let up on that grin of his.

After a few minutes, which Tim used to recollect his thoughts, he gave a heavy sigh, squeezing his eyes shut, and willed himself to just let it go for now. Changing the subject all together, he reached backwards into the back seat, pulling a large paper bag out, and offered an awkward smile.

"Umm… hungry?"

"You even have to ask at this point?" Jason laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"Guess that was a silly question…" Tim murmured, stifling a giggle as he passed Jason one of the to-go boxes.

As they ate, Tim began to tinker around with both programs, verifying that both the sound bug and tracking device were functioning properly. When he was satisfied that they were both indeed functioning to the best of their ability, he grinned proudly and turned back to the eating Jason.

"This device will cover you no matter where you go. I have the feed bouncing off of a satellite on a secure channel, so there is no need to worry about range. Everything will be recorded automatically and downloaded into log folders every hour, making the information easy to sort through and label."

At this Jason stiffened, swallowing his food awkwardly, making him cough briefly.

"Everything?"

"Yes, should something come up at any time, it will be on file." Tim nodded. "Why?"

"You…sure you want _everything_?" He frowned, shifting nervously. "I mean, I get that you're kinda voyeuristic, but… I'm not exactly at my finest, or proudest most of the time…"

And that bit of realization left Tim horror struck

"No- no I didn't mean…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "Look, if you're with a… client… outside of this, I'll shut the program off. It will still record, but I trust that you will let me know if something potentially important was brought up. I… don't have to keep the unimportant files, and I won't listen to things I don't need to. It's personal, and that's not something I have the right, nor want to impose on. I get that. I… I definitely don't want to make you uncomfortable Jason."

"Yeah… thanks, really." He sighed, letting the tension slip away somewhat. "So, getting off this topic, what all do you want me to do? Am I winging it? Want me to get specific?"

Tim was also relieved to move on.

"Best thing is to be yourself. Get them talking casually. Inch them onto topic. Pry just enough to get key info, but not so much that they suspect something is up. Do _not_ put yourself in a risky situation. Be aware of your surroundings at all times."

"Gotcha."

"If you need me at any time, or vice versa, this will be our form of contact." Tim stated, reaching into his coat pockets. "These are disposable. There are limited minutes. Do not call any number besides the one programmed in as " _Prihor_ ". The rest of the imputed names and numbers are decoys in case the phone is misplaced or someone searches you. Any attempt to call them will result in voicemail, all set up with various voiced generic messages. Likewise, your number will be the only one I answer, and the contact list is also riddled with decoys. Try to keep the phone intact, but note that if it becomes damaged for any reason, it is NOT a big deal, so don't freak out about it. You can call at any time and I will respond. It may not be immediate depending on my present company but I will try my best to pick up as quickly as possible."

Jason grinned, taking the small flip phone from Tim's hand.

"Sweet. I get all sorts of goodies today."

Tim sighed and shook his head, giving the teen an exasperated look.

"Try and be serious Jason…"

"I totally am. Really." He insisted. "But seriously, I got to ride in a sweet ass vehicle, doing shit I've only seen in movies, got some secret agent Robin-made bling, and came away with a cell phone that is personally connected between the two of us alone. This may be all 'serious workly duty' to you, but shit… this is like Christmas for me. Better really." He laughed happily, grinning down at him.

Tim could only manage a small sad smile at that, before he forced himself back on topic.

"Alright, I think that about does it for the time being. We will meet up later, and I'll ready you for faze two. For now, I will be listening in, consulting Batman, and doing my own field work. Seems I have quite a few crime scenes to visit today. Hopefully I can come up with something that the police force missed."

Jason snorted.

"Well, that's highly likely. They weren't even trying."

Tim chuckled as he started the car back up, removing the tint from the windows, and jolting the seats back into place.

"Yes, well all the same, for most of the murders it has been a few days. Evidence could be long gone in that amount of time. Still, it's worth a look around at each and every site."

Afterwards, as Tim drove, things were silent once more. Jason took this time to finish exploring the vehicle, twisting and turning to get a look at every angle, staring off into the back seat.

"Someday, you're gonna let me drive this baby. I guarantee it."

Tim only laughed.

As they pulled down the street where Tim had initially picked Jason up from, the older teen began to laugh. Tim gave him a curious look as he parked, and raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize that the ladies are going to be talking about this for weeks right?"

"Huh?" he questioned.

"Dude, you pulled up in a fancy red sports car and whisked me away, and you're now dropping me back off. That doesn't exactly happen very often. I'm going to be envied and fawned over for days. 'bout to become Mr. Popular, which totally works considering I'm going to have to work the gossip chain. You have no idea how depressed they probably became when you wanted me instead of any of them."

Tim laughed and smiled at him oddly.

"I'm not sure if that's intended to be a good or bad thing, but alright."

"It's a good thing. Take it as a compliment. Especially while wearing that." he chuckled, wagging his brows at the younger teen, who only blushed in responce.

Tim parked the car and chanced a look out the window. Sure enough, the gaggle of girls from earlier were staring right at them, whispering amongst themselves. Jason snickered as Tim once again blushed heavily from the attention, and opened up the door.

"See ya later Bird-boy!"

Tim smiled as Jason got out, shutting the door behind him as he walked around the vehicle. He let the teen get halfway across the street before he rolled down the window, and peered out.

"Jay!"

Jason paused, and turned to him, an amused look on his face, before sauntering back up to the car. He leaned in through window, smirking at him.

"Yeah?"

Tim let his eyes flicker back to the girls across the street briefly before pulling Jason in close by the lapels.

"Make it believable. Buy the girls a meal too, get you and them out of the cold for a bit." He whispered, smirking as he tucked a roll of bills into the older teen's hand before pulling away.

Jason looked down at the money in his hand and beamed at him, knowing very well that from the angle they were at, the exchange would have looked somewhat more intimate then it had been. One thing was for sure, Robin knew how to put on a good show.

Jason pulled out of the window, backing away slowly as he watched Tim roll the window back up. He stood in the middle of the street, watching Tim pull away, until the beautiful red car was out of sight.

With a sigh, he tucked the wad of cash into one of the jacket's inside pockets, and walked back on over to the small crowd of girls itching for an explanation.

The blonde from earlier, Veronica, was the first to break the ice, giving him an excited but accusatory look.

"He the one who bought you the jacket?" she asked, grinning. "He is, isn't he? Gotta be."

Before he could answer, one of the other girls grabbed ahold of his chin, tilting it roughly to the side with a gasp.

"Did you just leave and come back with a piercing? Boy you're letting him mark you like that?" She huffed, tsking at him.

The third girl was far more blunt, laughing as she approached.

"Was he as fine as his ride?" She asked, eyeing the silver shining off his ear.

Back in the car, with the laptop open beside him as he drove, Tim was officially dying of embarrassment.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

  


  



	3. Chapter 3

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Jason had to seriously restrain himself from laughing hysterically, knowing that chances were high that Robin was listening in on the conversation as the girls babbled on and on about what must have surely been one of his best days ever.

He couldn't help the grin though, and his cheeks were burning from it by the time they all calmed down enough to let him get a word in.

"Admittedly, I had a good time." He chuckled, shaking his head at their over enthusiastic squeals. "He's a decent guy. A bit timid, embarrasses easy, and far from being a creep."

"Kinda caught wind of that when I called you over. Looked like he was about ready to die of embarrassment when he told me he had 'other preferences'. Adorable really. He looked young too." The brunette giggled, quoting with her fingers in the air.

"Yeah, he wouldn't give me an age either. Likes to keep his secrets it seems. Can't blame him I guess, he'd probably get in a world of trouble if anyone found out he was doing what he was doing, and well… who actually gives us legit names anyway, huh?"

"Mmhmm."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, pausing as a low grumble sounded to his left and one of the girls flushed a deep crimson.

"What say we go get some lunch?" He offered, giving an all knowing look at the girl. "All of us. My treat. Fuckin' cold out. You've gotta be freezing your tits off Shelby, and you Veronica are out of your damn mind with those shorts." He grinned.

"Skin sells hun." The blonde sighed, rolling her eyes. "And you take care of _yourself_. Don't sit here worrying about us, you need the money just as much as we do, don't go blowing it on everyone else's stomachs." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jason only sighed, and reached within the jacket, pulling out the roll of bills.

"I think I'm good for a bit." He snorted, waving it in front of them. "Guy paid well too."

"Damn boy!" Shelby gaped. "There are hundreds underneath that twenty!"

At this, Jason did spare a glance down, unfolding the wad of bills within his hand, and in fact most of the bills were hundreds. He flushed, and was suddenly thankful that he hadn't counted it as he had left the car, otherwise he might have made a scene by shoving it back into the boy's hands. As is, he made a mental note to bitch the bird out later, as he sure as hell didn't deserve a 'gift' that big.

"You best hang onto that one. Pity he's got outta state plates..." Veronica sighed thoughtfully. "Usually not a good sign. Business trip? Or is he just new in town?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Didn't ask." He shrugged, wrapping an arm around the one girl's shoulder. "All I know is, we should all really go eat, before it gets busy and people wonder where the hell we all went.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Tim had forced himself to resist shutting the laptop as he drove, cheeks aflame as he had listened to the girls converse with Jason about him, before they had eventually gone out to eat at the closest diner.

He pulled the car into a small warehouse, shifting it into its Redbird mode, before he gradually stripped out of his civvies and pulled on his Robin gear. Once he was settled, he muted the computer's sound, and pulled a phone out of the dash, contacting the cave as he placed it on speaker. It was initially answered by Alfred as per usual, before he was passed off to Bruce.

" _You're at it awfully early."_ The man sounded amused as his deep voice filled the vehicle.

"I thought it would be best to take advantage of the sunlight while looking in on the crime scenes. Perhaps I'll be able to see something they missed? I will be starting with the most recent and working my way backwards." Tim sighed, hoping Jason had managed to avoid rolling onto the topic of him once more.

" _Probably a good idea. The last case has the highest probability of still having something of interest siting about. The locations of the murders from earlier in the week have had time to be picked through and rained on."_ Bruce mused.

"That's what I figured."

" _Well, try and stay out of sight. Be thorough, precise, and be sure to contact me again before tonight's patrol. I'll have to be as precise as possible when briefing Gordon on the situation."_

"Roger that. Hopefully I will be able to bring more to the table by then."

" _Take care, Robin."_

"Will do."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The first few crimes scenes offered very little even with them being the most recent. Past the remnants of bloodstains in the asphalt, Tim had only been able to pull some fibers that may, or may not have been related to the crimes, only lab testing could offer any proof.

It was not until Tim hit the forth location that he found anything of interest.

Scrolling through the digital crime scene photos and comparing them to the location's current visual state revealed little change other than daylight despite the age of the crime. Something that was likely due to the overhang of a balcony just above. Things were seemingly untouched, the ground still rather stained with no one bothering to have cleaned the area.

After much poking around he made a discovery, something that had most definitely been missed due to the night lighting and exact placement, completely hidden from view unless you were on the ground at the right angle with the proper light source.

A ring.

The sunlight happened to hit and glint off of the silver just as he had risen his head from examining the pavement. He had scuttled over to the shine on his hands and knees, reaching far beneath the industrial trash bin to retrieve the small hunk of metal with a gloved hand.

A men's ring, size twelve, sterling silver, platinum plated. Something that would have definitely been snatched up had it been the slightest bit visible, but had remained untouched due to the coverage. Had he come to this particular location just a single day later, it likely would have been lost to the garbage men that would be due to arrive in the morning.

Tim had never been so grateful for investigatory timing, or trash only being collected once a week.

He bagged the ring, tucking it into his belt, before bolting back towards the location he had stashed the car.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The ride back to the cave started in near silence, the only sound now coming from Jason's end was the music of the city, nothing more than cars and sirens and the chatter of random passerbys, leading Tim to conclude that he was now once again alone and loitering outside.

With a sigh, he began playing back earlier conversations acquired over the past few hours, drowning out the mindless rambling whilst at the same time storing potentially relevant topics in the back of his mind for future use. Jason was admittedly adept at prying for information without making it seem the slightest bit obvious, although things often got off tangent, and remained unconcluded. Still, it was more than he would have been able to achieve on his own, the girls trusted Jason, and they were most definitely spooked, and knew who to be afraid of.

Although he had yet to visit half of the murder scenes, he felt it most important to get the evidence he had already found back to the cave to look into, then hand off to Bruce to give to the Commissioner later in the evening.

As it so happened, when he finally arrived back at the cave, Alfred was already waiting for him with coffee and scones at the ready, while Bruce was up in the Manor catching up on some much needed sleep.

Alfred left him in peace after being assured that he would indeed eat, which left Tim to concentrate at the task at hand as he skimmed file after file trying to match the silver ring with a suspect.

Over the course of the next hour, Tim plowed through the entire pot of coffee, half the tray of scones, and a seemingly endless stretch of files.

It was only after the second hour came and went that his search yielded any results…

And satisfactory they were.

The design of ring matched one worn by Lighthall in several photographs taken within the past three years. It had been difficult to find a photo with the ring facing head on to get a definite positive match, but after some digging, the computer had been able to unearth one.

This would not give them Degan on a platter of course, but the fact that he definitely had a connection through Lighthall brought a smile to Tim's face. Proving that Degan was involved with Lighthall would be difficult, unless of course the man felt like talking once Gordon got ahold of him, but he was confident that if he kept digging something else would surface that would help put the man away.

He downloaded what he had put together onto a blank drive, attached the bagged ring to its surface, and quickly began scrawling out notes consisting of his findings, as well as some choice things the girls had said for Bruce to look over upon waking.

"Nice to see you hard at work kiddo!"

Tim nearly leapt out of his skin as Dick's voice sounded from behind mere moments before an arm was slung around his shoulders.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He huffed, a small smile breaking free all the same.

"I was aiming for 'Happy Surprise', not heart attack, if that makes you feel better?"

"Hardly. What brings you out of Blüdhaven? Did Bruce know you were coming? He's asleep."

Dick grinned and ruffled his hair earning a sharp squawk of protest.

"Sure he did. He called me. He's got a gala tonight and said you had a pretty interesting case on your hands. Wanted me to patrol his route for him after he swings by Gordon really fast, and keep a com open just in case you needed assistance at some point. Can't say I blame the worrywart. Us Boy Wonders can get into some tight spots you know." He snickered happily, stealing a scone from the plate.

"Mmm… probably why he decided to sleep for once. He neglected to tell me of this gala though."

Dick rolled his eyes.

"Bruce never likes to talk about ' _Brucie'_ nights. But no, seriously. Probably just didn't want to bug you during your first big solo case." He smiled, lifting himself up to sit on the edge of the council. "Were you just about to head back out?"

"Yeah… do me a favor and pass these along to Bruce." He asked, handing Dick the drive, ring, and notes. "I still have four crime scenes to hit and potential leads to follow through with. I'll give you a shout if I need you at any point, alright?"

"Sure thing Timmy! I'll be sure to finish off your scones as well. No sense being wasteful."

Tim chuckled.

"You go right ahead and do that, Alfred will be pleased." And with that, Tim spun on his heel and made his way towards the garage, returning to the Redbird.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was only a short drive to the first of the remaining four crime scenes, the trip spent setting his systems back up.

Unfortunately, there was little to be seen. The ground had been washed clean, and much of the area had either been wind swept, or picked through. There was nothing to be found. After the last location had proved to be worthwhile, the lack of remnants at the current was disheartening.

He returned to the Redbird shortly after arriving, and sat in the driver's seat plotting out his next visitation spot. Things were sure to become difficult shortly, it was getting late, and the sun was setting fast as typical in Gotham with all its tall structures. Bruce would be off to see Gordon shortly, and Dick was sure to be suiting up at the present. It was a hard choice, deciding whether the next spot would be the last for the day or if he should pursue the final two afterwards despite how dark it would be by the time he could get to them.

In the end it was just easier to take things as they happened and decide when he got to that point.

With a sigh, he tapped at a few keys and pulled the audio program up, tuning it to Jason's frequency to check in on what the teen was up to.

He wished he hadn't.

Tim froze, shoulders stiffening, and throat locking as a groan echoed through the speakers. The wet slap of flesh on flesh reverberated through the vehicle, and he stared at the sound waves fluctuating on the small screen in horror as his hand tightened around the steering wheel in a death grip.

A deep chuckle sounded between pants with a sharp whine following…

Tim slammed the laptop shut with excessive force, shaking the entire dash as he blanched.

He had known that this could happen- _would_ happen… It wasn't as though he could have kept Jason from his ' _job'_ , no matter how much he wanted to. He needed the money to stay alive, and halting _everything_ just to help with a case was unrealistic…

Sure, he had given him a pretty penny when he had set him loose after they had discussed their initial plan, but it was not enough to last. Not even enough to get through the week when stretching it to the last dime. He was not foolish… he _knew_.

Even so, it tugged at his heart, and filled him with self-disgust. He was appalled that he was simply going to have to brush it off, let things happen, because there was nothing he could do to change Jason's situation. He was revolted by the fact that he was letting it carry on, even though he could so easily trace him to his location, bust in, and arrest the man for statutory rape despite the sharp protests Jason would surely make.

Instead he simply shoved the laptop off of its platform onto the passenger seat, pulled his knees against his chest, and buried his face in them, willing himself to forget the things he had heard, and his chest to stop aching.

Witnessing things suddenly made everything all the more real.

It wasn't a good feeling…

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It had taken some time to recover from the shock he had received in hearing Jason's activities, but eventually he did manage to pull himself together and drive out to the next location.

It was difficult to concentrate between the dissipating sunlight and the sound of Jason's keens echoing in the back of his mind.

With each passing minute it got harder and harder to see, and soon he was relying solely on a LED flashlight to illuminate the dark alleyway.

After scouring the area for clues for nearly a half hour, he gave a heavy sigh, and nearly turned back.

Only…

He moved a soggy collapsed cardboard box out of the way in passing, unearthing a sewer grate beneath it. In curiosity, he shone the light down into the open space below, eyes scoring the depths below for anything of interest.

And there was.

Tim pulled a tool from his belt, undoing the latches on the grate, before tossing it aside and leaping down into the sewer below.

The water was only just barely ankle deep, making it easy to move around, and he bunched his cape up onto his shoulders as he crouched down in front of the chamber wall.

Situated directly below the entrance above, caught on a jagged edge where the concrete surface had broken away some time ago, was a length of rope. Theoretically, if one wished to dispose of it quickly, dropping evidence down a sewer line was a sure way to do so, especially in Gotham. The piece of rope getting snagged on the wall allowing for it to not get washed away was pure chance and dumb luck. Each and every one of the girls had been strangled, so there was a possibility that the item was related.

He held the flashlight steady in his teeth as he reached into his belt, pulling out a larger baggy, and then gently tugged the rope free of its holding. He brought it close, moving so the light was shining directly on the twisted fibers, and examined the twists and turns thoroughly.

Dirt… foreign fibers… and bingo, blood and flesh rubs.

All it would take was matching the blood and skin cells to the crime scene's victim, or any of the other victims for that matter, and it would be another small piece of the puzzle to give to Gordon. More so if anything coating the fibers cold be directly linked to Degan, Lighthall, or any of the other past accomplices.

With a grin, he slipped the flashlight around his wrist by its strap and pocketed the rope stuffed baggy, launching himself back up and out onto the street.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Visiting the remaining locations in the darkness that had come would have been pointless so Tim decided to forgo them all together until daylight came once again. Instead, he drove back to the cave to drop off his findings and examine the surface content of the rope fibers.

Alfred once again deposited a pot of coffee at his work station, not forgetting the disapproving frown before muttering, just loud enough for him to hear, about stunted growth.

To which he only chuckled in response.

It was meticulous work picking at the fibers beneath the magnifying glass; tweezers working gently to loosen dirt particles and skin scrapings, then snipping and storing fibers with blood staining.

He had been at it for well over an hour, Alfred upstairs within the manor presumably cleaning one area or another as he worked, when things changed…

Tim stiffened, feeling his chest tighten in dread as the phone tucked away within his belt began to vibrate. Jason calling at such an awkward time immediately set his heart racing in worry; especially when the last he had tuned into the teen's frequency he had been… well, with a client.

He slunk away from the work station quickly, scrambling into the nearest catacomb, tucking into a shadowy corner before he pulled the cell from his belt and flipped it open.

"What's wrong?" He prompted at once, forcing his voice to stay steady despite his nerves.

" _Yo… Robin?_ " Jason's voice echoed from the speaker hesitantly, but did not at all seem alarmed, forcing a sigh of relief to spill from Tim's lips.

"Yeah, what is it?"

" _You weren't listening to me… I've been trying to get you over here for the past hour. Seriously, I've got something you need to see, outta be more than enough to get Degan off the streets._ "

Tim's dread slammed a wave of urgent panic through his chest.

"Jason what did you do? Where are you?" He was racing through the cave towards the Redbird at once without even waiting for a response.

" _Whoa… chill! I'm- well, I'm at the docks… got pictures, video, and everything. Seriously this is it, what we needed. This phone is great-"_

"Get out of there!"

" _But, no one can see_ -" The older teen seemed genuinely confused at his panic and Tim bit back a growl as he slid into the driver's seat.

"You have no idea how stupid- how much danger you have put yourself in! How could you risk yourself like that? Get out- wait… no, no don't get out. Stay concealed and stay put. I will come get you. No more risks… god… you could have been…"

" _I-I … yeah okay… 'm sorry…_ " He murmured sheepishly, and Tim would have felt bad if not for the situation. " _I just… wanted to help, make things easier?_ "

"That's all fine and well, except that you've climbed into a snake pit… where exactly are you?" he groaned, starting the car.

" _Umm… well, I'm not entirely sure really-_ "

"JASON!"

" _Couldn't you just, I don't know, track the phone? Lots of hallways, offices, and warehouse space. Moved around a lot, not too sure where I came in, what I passed… I could send you the photos and stuff? That might help?"_

"You do that… and don't move, do not make a single sound, level your breathing, and stay put." He didn't want to add that sending the photos and videos, making a second copy exist on Tim's phone, was the only way to be sure that everything Jason had done had not been for nothing in case he was discovered and the evidence was destroyed.

_All_ of it.

Within moments of hanging up, the phone buzzed to life as he received the files one by one, and he glanced over them.

They were not comforting in the slightest.

Jason had managed to capture photos of drugs still packed in crates, the faces of men in on the operation, Degan himself handling the goods…

Better yet, or worse depending on your point of view, he had even managed to film Degan implicating himself in the distribution, as well as joking about the latest of the murders, something he was sure had had Jason fuming. While that was surely miraculous, and would do wonders for Gordon's investigation and lead to Degan's arrest, it made Jason too involved… at risk, a target, and at Degan's mercy as he sat defenseless wherever he had stashed himself away all without him even knowing _how_ Jason came into his information, or _when_ he ended up at the docks, though he had his suspicions now… something he didn't want to think about.

Tim could not help but be worried that he might not make it in time to pull Jason out of danger, that he could very well be at risk of becoming the very next addition to the line of bodies in the morgue, all because he had been foolish enough to bring a civilian in on a case, something Bruce had very specifically preached against when he had first put him through his training.

He cursed himself the entire drive to the dock, flying well past the speed limit, knuckles white as he clenched the steering wheel...

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He had to abandon the Redbird and tuck it out of view well away from the warehouse Jason's tracer had him pinpointed within. It was a massive building surrounded by storage units, containing not only a massive shipment department, but several office areas and temperature controlled units.

Jason had been far too vague for his liking in regards to location. Even with uploading the signal to a portable device there were so many twists and turns within that it would be difficult to get to him in a timely manner without being seen or heard, and then there was the actual problem of getting them _both_ out safely whilst doing the same.

It was a mess.

It was his fault.

As he made his way slowly through the halls following the signal he was on edge. Any little noise had him tensing and stopping in his tracks as he flattened himself against a wall or pulled himself up onto a ceiling pipe. He could not imagine how Jason had gotten inside on his own without being noticed, without someone catching him, and he only hoped that after their conversation had ended he had not been discovered.

He had yet to see any signs of human life within the building, and it was unnerving to say the least, considering the several individuals Jason had videotaped and photographed. Everything else was still in place, and Tim had to admit that this was indeed a large find, which could have possibly been found too late, or not at all if Jason had not uncovered things.

It forced him to admit that he was likely in way over his head, and could possibly lose out on everything once he had ahold of Jason if he did not ask for help… which prompted him to suck it up and back into a corner, activating his com.

"This is R, requesting immediate backup from N… Cape Carmine docks, reference tracer for exact positioning. Large bust, primary and secondary suspects presumably in the building... Switching back to radio silence… R out…" he murmured, sighing at the end of the transmission.

Bringing Dick into the situation was risky from a personal point of view, but he just had a _feeling_ that things could go south without him… and Tim always went with his gut.

His heart hammered in his chest as he resumed weaving through the building. For a time, it hadn't even seemed like Jason's blip on his screen was getting any closer, but after the first half hour had rolled past while he moved at a snail's pace, he had finally gotten somewhere.

And of course, still no life to be found.

As he homed in on the blinking dot upon the screen his stomach lurched in anticipation.

Something just felt so very wrong…

He approached the next corridor slowly, slipping the device back into his belt, replacing it with a batarang in one hand as he reached for his staff with the other.

The small storage room he approached had several halls branching off of it, no doors on any of the entrances. He slipped in briskly, eyes darting about frantically as he tried to spot the other boy, and he hadn't far to look. Jason sat atop a crate at one end of the room, arms crossed across his chest as he stared at the floor.

Tim took a step forward, the noise alerting Jason to his presence, and he watched the teen's head jolt up to meet his gaze.

He only barely managed to see the purple splash across Jason's cheekbone before the teen's eyes bulged.

"ROB-"

Jason was cut off by a fist in his hair, and the cock of a gun as Degan appeared behind him, stopping Tim dead center of the room. He swallowed thickly, gripping his jacket arms tightly as the barrel dug into his temple.

"Not another step kid…"

And there was that feeling from earlier…

"Degan." He growled, a faint shadow of what Bruce was capable of, noting Jason's cell laying in pieces on the ground against the far wall.

As he had feared, the call alone had gotten him caught… and Tim was relieved that not only had Jason managed to send him everything, but he had left his cell in the Redbird, copying the files to his portable system, allowing for multiple other copies.

"You bats sendin' whores out into the field to do your dirty work now? Kinda pathetic if you ask me…" The man snarled mockingly, tightening his grip on the black locks in his hand, earning a hiss from Jason.

Tim's eyes narrowed behind his domino as he scanned the room, looking for a way to release the teen without any bloodshed on either of their parts.

Unfortunately, he was coming up with nothing.

' _What would Bruce do?_ ' He asked himself, actively avoiding remembering that he would have done none of this the way he had in the first place…

"Kinda tuggin' hard there old man, and not in a good way…" Jason growled snapping Tim's attention back to him.

Degan's lip curled, and he only seemed to grip harder judging by the tight clench of Jason's jaw thereafter.

He was getting agitated, and Tim could see that despite the dominant front the man was putting on, he was jumpy. It was a chilly night, and the warehouse offered little warmth, yet the sweat was rolling off Degan in streams.

And that gave him an idea…

While most of the man's attention was on Jason's discomfort, Tim slipped a pick from the lining of his glove, pinched it between two fingers, and flicked it across the room towards one of the other hall entrances.

The sound of the small stick of metal hitting the cement had its desired effect, Degan jumped, and in that instant loosened his grip ever so slightly, and Jason rammed his elbow backwards into the man's gut.

Tim moved quickly, using the batarang to launch the gun out of the stunned man's hand, allowing Jason to slip away and dive across the room while he lurched forward with his staff out in front of him.

But Degan recovered quickly, and sent a small crate flying at Tim's feet, almost knocking the teen over, before whipping another one at his head.

Tim barely managed to pull his arm up in time for it to hit him, splintering off into chunks as it hit the glove's metal ribbing, several small jars from its contents falling and bursting into pieces as they hit the ground.

Before Tim could recover, Degan was through one of the walkways, slamming his hand against the wall.

Tim moved to follow, but a loud buzz echoed through the corridor, and he only just managed to fall back in time for a metal grate to drop from the ceiling, effectively cutting off his access to the man.

Degan looked smug as he smirked at them through the gaps in the barrier.

The man lit a cigarette, taking a long deep drag before blowing smoke into Tim's face as he watched them with an amused expression.

Jason's hand gripped onto the back of his cape, and Tim flinched, having not even noticed his initial approach.

"A grate won't stop us Degan, there are plenty of other routes and unless you have something else up your sleeve, you're currently unarmed." Jason snorted, pressing up against Tim's side.

Whether it was for his comfort, or his own Tim wasn't sure.

Degan looked far too pleased for his situation though, and it unnerved him…

"You fools have gotten nothing tonight! All of this, whatever it is, will have been for nothing!" Degan laughed at them, clinging to the crosshatched steel barrier.

"We have the proof Degan, for the drugs, and the murders. You will not get far, and soon enough we will have you behind bars, I can guarantee that!" Tim growled.

Degan only smirked, and flicked his cigarette butt through the grate at the Robin, where it soared off course over his shoulder.

"You missed!" Jason snarled, stepping forward, only to be held back by Tim with a fist in his jacket arm.

"You two are so confident in yourselves… such children." The man spat, turning away from them, and starting down the hall. "But unfortunately, you fail to realize that you can't convict me if you're dead!" He cackled, disappearing into the shadows at the end of the hall.

Tim blanched, mind racing, thinking of what he could have possibly missed throughout the whole ordeal.

It was then that Jason's eyes widened, and he spun to look behind them, letting out a choked gasp.

"Fuck, gotta move Robin!" Jason exclaimed, grabbing hold of Tim's wrist.

"Huh?" Tim only managed a brief glance behind him before Jason was quite forcefully dragging them off down the hallway from which he had come at top speed.

His heart was hammering in his chest as they fled the scene.

The cigarette had not been aimed at him…

Degan had not missed…

He had thrown it straight at the pile of forgotten crates lining the walls. Crates that had been filled with chemicals, and jars of some unknown substance.

There was going to be one hell of a big bang, and no telling when.

They only made it two stretches of hallway before the first explosion shook the building to its core, nearly knocking both boys off their feet. They barely steadied themselves before they sped around the next corner, feeling the approaching heat from behind.

Tim chanced a quick look behind them, and wished he had not, as the flames were chasing them barely forty feet behind them. He kept a firm grip on Jason's sleeve as they raced down the halls, and he frantically tried to remember just how many turns he had made, how many feet long each hall had stretched.

Tim was never so happy to see an exit in his life when they came rushing at the warehouse's double doors. The moment passed as quickly as it had come however, as the second explosion sounded off, far too large, and close for comfort.

As they pushed through the doors making their way to freedom, Tim leapt upon Jason, knocking him onto his back as they came crashing to the ground, just as the building front blew to pieces. Tim pressed them as flat against the ground as they could go, pulling his cape tightly over them both, eternally grateful that he had opted for a cape nearly twice as long as the one Dick had sported as the heat washed over them and debris fell from the sky coating the area.

He clung to the boy beneath him, waiting for the heat to dissipate, the roar of the explosion and flames to die down. He could feel Jason's pulse racing, and hear the older teen's panicked breathing, and could only pray that he had not injured him when he had thrown him to the ground so abruptly.

They lay silently, clinging, and breathing heavily as they waited. It had been a touch over ten minutes before Tim felt it safe to move, and he pushed himself up gently, bracing himself on Jason's shoulders as he shrugged off bits of wood and plaster that has been resting on the outer layer of the cape. He drew in deep shaky breaths as he sat upright in Jason's lap, heart thrumming as he took in the damage of the premises that they had only narrowly escaped being a part of. Ash fell from above, and smoke billowed in the sky, making Tim shudder with just how close they had come to being blown to pieces. He stared down at the other boy nervously, still holding the teen's jacket tightly in his grasp.

"Are- are you alright?" He murmured, voice shaking, his entire body seemingly vibrating from his nerves.

Jason opened his eyes slowly, hesitantly, and began to squirm somewhat. After briefly checking his various muscle movements, he nodded, giving a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm good, I've hurt worse." He mumbled. "Fancy cape you've got there… Full of all sorts of surprises." He gave a nervous laugh, twiddling with the edge of it.

"Yeah…" Tim returned his smile, gazing down at him, slumping with relief.

Without any pause or warning, Jason gripped the ends of the cape tightly, tugging it downward sharply, causing Tim to fall forward back on top of him. Tim yelped, catching himself before he could head-butt the older teen, only for Jason to reach up and tug his head back in close with a hand full of hair in the end anyway. He stiffened, eyes bulging as Jason pressed closer, and he gave a weak attempt at pulling back despite how tightly he was locked in place.

Then suddenly, Jason was sucking on his lower lip, and Tim couldn't bring himself to think anymore. He clenched at the jacket lapels, squeaking as the other boy's tongue forced its way between his lips. Jason kept his hand tangled within his hair, holding him still while his other arm wrapped around his waist, tugging him in until he was pressed flesh against him like earlier.

As luck would happen to have it, it was also at this time that Nightwing appeared on scene, and he sat wide eyed, perched upon a storage unit as he gazed down at the two teens lying upon the debris covered ground.

Tim lay slumped against the older boy, melting against him as Jason sucked at his tongue and nipped at his lip, rubbing circles into his back as he coaxed a whine from his throat. When Jason finally released his tight grip, and pulled away, Tim lay panting, pupils blown wide as he met his gaze. Jason did not move to stop him as he sat upright, cheeks ablaze, only grinned up at him with a content expression on his face.

Tim averted his eyes briefly, feeling the blush deepen further as he surveyed the warehouse, front blown open with flames still flying within.

He shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut tight as he struggled to get his breathing under control.

"You okay?" Jason asked from beneath him, an edge of worry in his voice as he snapped Tim out of his thoughts.

He nodded, giving a small sigh as his shoulders slumped.

"Robin!" Dick took this as his cue to interrupt, in effort to avoid jumping in and accidentally disrupting the two, if by chance whatever was going on happened to continue.

He only partly regretted this decision when Tim jolted, nearly toppling off the older boy as his head snapped up in his direction.

Tim stiffened as he stared, and Jason tilted his head back to see the blue and black clad form atop the unit, groaning unhappily as he recognized the figure.

Dick hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt as he gave the two a lopsided grin.

"Looks like things got blown out of proportion before I could get here!" He chuckled, cocking a hip as Tim rolled off of Jason into a stand.

The Robin groaned at the pun, shaking his head as he took a step forward, holding a hand out to Jason to help him up. The older teen wobbled slightly, but caught his balance quickly, shaking off whatever bruises and scrapes he had acquired in the ordeal.

"You two okay down there? Looks like I missed one hell of a party…" He frowned, watching the flames crackle and climb as walls continued to crumble.

Tim nodded slowly, turning his gaze.

"Yeah but… Degan got away. The others were gone before I even arrived apparently. He locked himself behind a grate, and blew everything to pieces before we even knew what was happening. I do have photo and video evidence, but I highly doubt that he will be sticking around after this… I'm sorry… I really messed this one up." He sighed, hanging his head.

Jason could only stand around, awkwardly shifting his weight as the two talked, wondering when shit would hit the fan for the _third_ time that night.

But Dick broke out into a smug grin.

"Not Quite! The reason it took me so long to get here was that I caught the guy trying to make a getaway. He's out cold, zip tied, and secured awaiting transport. Nabbed him at the back end of the building right before the explosion." He laughed. "Good job kiddo!"

Tim's blush deepened, but he returned the grin all the same.

"That's great! D- _Nightwing_ , you're amazing! I thought for sure that he would disappear with all I had on him. This wasn't a waste after all."

"I know. I'm just awesome like that." Dick smirked, eyeing Jason briefly. "But I'm afraid some things still need some clearing up. Can we talk in private, _Robin_?"

Tim's grin immediately fell, but he nodded all the same, breaking away from Jason's side as he hesitantly followed the man as he dropped behind the storage unit.

Dick got right to the point, giving Tim little time to collect himself before hands were on his shoulders and he was looking up into the man's eyes, lenses down now that they were alone.

"Okay, who's that? Does Batman know about him? Why is here?"

Each question made the shame wash over him in waves and his stomach clench.

He had been so foolish…

"He's… Jason." He stated bluntly, figuring that lying to Dick was next to pointless. "He is actually the one who alerted me to this case, wanted me to help..." he murmured, averting his gaze.

He could feel Dick's hands tense on his shoulders before he heard the sharp intake of breath.

"So… it wasn't one of the girls?" It wasn't accusatory, but it might as well have been given the situation, and Tim shook his head.

"No, he's – well, I mean…" He stumbled over his words shakily, cheeks aflame as he squirmed in Dick's grasp.

He looked up briefly to see the realization spread across Nightwing's face.

"Oh… _oh_ …" Dick nodded, getting the idea, a faint flush creeping across his own cheeks. "And you brought him here on the case with you? Robin, I'm sure I don't have to tell you how utterly stupid-"

Tim shut him down quickly with a soft shove to the chest and a ragged sigh causing Dick to be the one squirming.

"He came here on his own… I have already given him a mouthful, and he's already learned his lesson. He called me to the location. I would have never put him or any other civilian in harm's way by sending them in so deep. Trust me. I came here to get him, see what he was talking about, and then get going, but it was too much to pass up, and too much for me to handle alone, hence calling for backup. I was just as, if not more alarmed than you when I found out he was here."

"And how pray tell _did_ he inform you that he was here, hmm?"

Tim responded only with distressed silence and a panicked look.

Dick sighed, and ran a hand through his wind mussed hair.

"Well, you did a smart thing. But you really need to stress to your _friend_ that he could have wrecked your whole operation, or worse, gotten one of you two killed."

"A-Actually… _he_ saved _me_. If not for him I would have been caught up in the explosion. I had completely forgotten about the chemicals, hadn't even seen the flames for that matter… He was pulling me out of the room before I even managed to catch sight of why he was panicking." He admitted sheepishly.

Dick looked as though he were on the verge of dragging him back to the manor right then and tying him up in the cave for safe keeping.

"Okay, I'll give him that, but if not for him you wouldn't have even been in that position to begin with. Let's not make excuses. Just… don't let it happen again, 'kay kiddo? Seriously, you make me realize just how much I put Batman through getting caught and roughed up all those times back when I was young. Man's got some strong nerves…" He laughed half-heartedly.

Tim slumped his shoulders and nodded softly.

"Alright… that's manageable, promise."

"Good. Now, back to the main concern, how much does he know?"

"Know?" he blinked, gripping the edge of his cape, whether an unconscious action or not.

"About us. _All_ of us, what we do, who we are?" He pried gently, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around the boy and pet his hair soothingly after the long fiasco.

Tim jolted back to life in an instant, a startled expression gracing his features.

"Oh! No, nothing, I swear! I've been very careful. I mean, it's not _fun_ hiding things and keeping secrets, but… it's not my secret to tell. I've felt that way forever. You know that…"

"Yeah, yeah I do kid, and I'm proud of you for that. Just had to be sure though, ya know? Now, go say bye to your friend, and we'll get Degan _and_ any evidence over to Gordon, and then we can get you back to the cave so you can write up your report and Alfred and I can baby you accordingly." He chuckled.

Tim however looked seemingly defeated once more.

"Right…"

"It's probably best that we leave _whatshisname_ out of the picture, or B will have both our heads. Again, just don't let it happen a second time. It's not a risk we can take. He's a civilian, not even another cape. Take it from a guy who knows, _I mean REALLY knows_ , relationships of any kind with a civilian hardly ever work out of costume, let alone _in_ costume. Save yourself the heartbreak. I've lost plenty of potential good friends and lovers that way."

Tim squeezed his eyes shut, and slowly pulled away from the man.

"I'm going to need a moment…" He mumbled awkwardly, turning towards the direction from which he had come.

Dick only nodded and watched him go with a sympathetic gaze.

When Tim rounded the corner and appeared from behind the storage unit Jason could already feel the dread as he watched Robin's defeated face.

He tried to seem optimistic, throwing on a lopsided grin as the boy approached, but it only seemed to make the younger teen shrink in on himself further.

"So… how pissed is Big-Blue?"

Tim stopped and let out a ragged sigh.

"Actually, Nightwing has been pretty understanding of things. It would have been a lot worse if it had been Batman. Still, this can't happen again…" he murmured.

"Already said I wouldn't do nothin' like this ever again, geez… no need to tell me again, especially after _that_..." He huffed crossing his arms.

Tim gave him a pained look, recognizable even with his lenses down.

"No… he brought up some very valid points. You could have been hurt tonight. That would have been on my hands. You should not have come here. When you called and told me that you were here what you were doing… you have no idea how afraid I was."

"Yeah, but I'm fine! You're fine! Degan's in custody, the evidence will keep him there, and the girls are all safe. Sure it was a bit risky, but hell, don't the results justify all that?"

"No."

"What do you mean, _no_?"

"I'm not sure how you knew to come here, or what to look for... I'm not sure I even _want_ to know, but putting you in danger cannot be justified-"

"Did what I had to, to get the job done! I was the one who put myself in danger!" He growled, tossing his hands into the air.

Tim flinched, and shook his head sadly, setting a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"No… no you didn't." he sighed rubbing at his temple.

"I don't under-"

"I got you involved. I could have simply looked into things on my own… done things the hard, but correct way, with you out of the line of fire instead of sending you out into the field to probe for information. Had I just let things be, you would have never been at risk, instead I selfishly drug you along with me, knowingly putting you in harm's way, and that just cannot happen. He had a gun on you Jason. He could have pulled the trigger… Things should have never come this far. I should have-"

"Left me on the street corner." Jason spat, pulling out of Tim's grasp, backing away.

The pain was evident on Tim's face as he stood shocked with his arm still outstretched toward him.

"I… I didn't say that-" he murmured, stepping forward slowly.

He only retreated further, and Tim could no longer see the trust that had once been in Jason's eyes, which made his heart ache.

"Might as well have, and you meant it all the same…" He muttered, turning on his heel. "Should've never called you out… let you keep being a creep. I'm outta here…whatever…"

Tim couldn't bring himself to stop him as he stormed off into the distance, not with the danger he had put Jason in, not with what Dick said having been the truth…

He watched Jason go until the light from the flames no longer reached him and he disappeared into the night.

When he turned, Dick was waiting for him beside the unit with a pained look on his face.

The walk towards the man felt like miles, the night events catching up with him all at once. He felt Dick's arms wrap around his shoulders in a tight embrace, one he felt unable to return. He let his forehead rest against his chest, eyes drifting shut as he willed his nerve to return. His throat was tight, but he was far too tired and drained for tears. After a long moment, he pulled away and drew in a deep breath, releasing it with a shaky sigh as he met Dick's gaze.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take the Redbird back… give myself a while alone before I have Alfred on me the rest of the night?"

Dick gave him a weak smiled and nodded softly, giving his shoulder one last squeeze.

"Sure thing kiddo… go right ahead, I'll be waiting for you 'kay?"

Tim could only manage a small nod as he turned away and made the long walk back to the car.

Nightwing left shortly after, presumably to deposit Degan in Gordon's care, before making his own way to the cave.

And although Tim felt horrible and guilty walking back to the Redbird, it was nothing compared to the pain and anguish he felt when he reached it…

He bit his lip, reaching out with a trembling hand as he removed the folded stack of bills from beneath the windshield wipers.

Jason had returned the money he had given him at the start of the day, sans what he had paid for the group's one single meal, despite how much he knew he really needed it.

Tim took the long route back to the cave that night, not wanting the others to see him in the state he left in.

By the time he returned to the Manor it had begun to snow.

This only made his hurt worse.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the end, not at all, even with Jay being is sensitive self.
> 
> Parts 5 and 6 will be here shortly and will be of NORMAL chapter length unlike the past 2 monsters I created.


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